


watch me rise from the ashes of your fall

by orphan_account



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-10-15 19:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10556222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It hurts, hurts more than anything she's ever felt, even after Kara saves her, especially after Kara saves her.





	1. Chapter 1

There’s a ringing in her ears that won’t stop.  Blood mixes with saliva as she spits at Max’s feet, grinning all the way. He looks down, face scrunched up in disgust. Alex counts it as a win, adding it to the tally she’s created to keep track of how long she can provoke him before he does something stupid. So far, it’s been hard to tell.

“Really, Agent Danvers. You’d think that Supergirl would have at least rubbed off on you enough that you wouldn’t resort to things like that.” She can see his fingers brushing against the taser attached to his belt. She spits at him again, barely missing his face. “Guess not.”

He walks up to her then, yanks her head back with a vicious grip she’s almost impressed by. He’s gotten stronger than the last time she’d seen him, more willing to get his hands dirty, though how much still seems to be up for debate.

“Then again, she is the kind of menace that you don’t see until she’s right there, destroying everything you hold close and not giving a damn about the people she hurts.”

The taser sings as he presses it against her skin. Her body jerks, electricity shocking her system enough that it leaves her gasping where she hangs. It’s not close enough to her heart, not yet, but she can already tell from the scent of singed flesh that it doesn’t need to be.

He’s not here to kill her, after all. Or rather, he’s not ready to overplay his hand.

“You know, Max, Kara would at least give you a chance first before she punched your smug face.” She can taste the iron on her tongue as she speaks, ignores it as she goes on. “But you just had to come after me, didn’t you?”

She jerks forward again, something snapping in her shoulder as the electricity pulls a scream from her. She’s been too confident, too cocky, and now her body is paying for it. Kara is going to kill her if she somehow manages to get out of this alive. Then she’ll bring her back and kill her again.

Not that she intends for her to be there. National City’s population is worth more than she is. It’s better this way, better that Supergirl and the D.E.O. pay attention to the rampage Max’s associates are carrying out at the moment, no doubt, than to her. She’s expendable like that.

“That’s the point, Alex. Going after the person Supergirl loves most? It’s guaranteed to make her reckless. Fear begets anger, and all of that. She won’t even realise what she’s set in motion until it’s over.”

It’s hard to laugh when your bone snaps close to your lungs but Alex does just that when Max has one of his cronies smash her ribs in with an old baseball bat. The wood connects hard, fast, and she can feel the moment her ribs break inside of her.

Alex grunts as the pain makes her eyes water, makes her bite down hard on her on tongue. Her body feels like it’s on fire and all she wants is to sleep, to drop away from this reality into one where strong arms wrap around her and nothing hurts.

“This isn’t going to work, you know.  Those goons you’re working with? Whatever they promised you? You’re not going to get it. These guys are government black ops. Worse than the D.E.O. You’re just wasting your time with them.”

One of the goons hits her again and it’s only as it tears through her flesh that Alex notices the nails embedded in his bat. It’s not as heavy as the last one but it doesn’t need to be when her skin is burning from the contact.

She chokes on her scream as her skin appears to tear before her eyes, blood seeping out, thick and red as it congeals around the wound. Whatever it is, it acts fast, speeds up the rate of the infection that will no doubt set in if Max leaves her untreated later. She’d almost be impressed if it isn’t for the fact that he’s using her body as a test subject.

“Oh, you do not want to know what I used on that. Hurts, doesn’t it?”

Her sight is dimming, the damage to her body taking its toll on her energy reserves. She wants to sleep, to close her eyes and gives in, but she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of him seeing it. She doesn’t want him to see her in a moment of weakness that he could use to his advantage.

“I’m so going to enjoy tearing you apart when I get out of here,” she says instead, baring her teeth. “You’re going to wish Supergirl had gotten to you first.”

He smirks, Presses the taser over her heart.

“Do you know why I like this particular weapon, Alex?”

“It’s stronger than your usual taser? There’s a customizable pink option that you have locked in a safe somewhere? Daddy dearest gave it to you? I don’t know, Max.”

“It’s not just stronger. The power variable goes beyond the usual range of options as well, so I can choose how long I was thinking to draw this out for.” He presses his fingers into her open wounds. “And right now? I don’t feel like waiting for Supergirl to show up to do this.”

Then taser whines again and everything goes black in that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex is groggy when she wakes up, her vision cloudy. She blinks, tries to focus more, but she can’t, liquid below her eyelids stinging her eyes as someone behind her tugs her head back until she’s gasping in pain.

“That’s better. I was afraid that we’d have to dunk you in again. Gotta say, it’s a bit disappointing to torture someone who’s asleep, versus someone who’s awake. It just doesn’t have the right feel to it, you know?”

“Can’t say that I do.”

Keep talking. She has to push herself to think, to let the words flow out from her foggy mind. There are drugs in her system, she thinks, shutting down her nervous system in places and boosting it in others until her body alternates between numbing itself and screaming out in pain.

Lord grins when he sees her grit her teeth, comes closer. She attempts to spit in his face, attempts to do something, anything, but her body will not listen to her. It won’t do what she wants and not for the first time Alex feels helpless, feels like there’s a situation she can’t get out of, and how can she protect Kara like this?

Kara…

All she can think of is her sister, is her favourite alien looking for and not finding her. She can’t just give up on her, can’t just let herself fail her like this. She’s worked too hard, done too much to end here.

“I wouldn’t try resisting that, if I were you. It’s a special cocktail I whipped up specifically for someone like you, Agent Danvers.” Her stomach churns as he smiles at her. “The more you fight it, the more unpleasant your reaction is going to be. Trust me when I say that the tests I ran on this? Not pretty. I’d suggest giving in and giving me what I want. Why don’t you call out for her, hmm? Go on. Give it a really good shout. I can guarantee that there isn’t any lead in this building to block her hearing. Kind of defeats the point, you know?”

He smiles at her, all teeth and fake concern. Max doesn’t even bother to hide how false it is and Alex has to scoff, has to shake her head at how obvious he’s being, like a cartoon villain come to life. It’s all so ridiculous that she has to laugh, has to give into the urge to giggle at the way it’s all playing out.

She’s pushed back into the water, held under until her lungs start to burn. There’s no warning, no time to hold her breath and she’s swallowing water fast, her vision swimming beneath the surface.

“Ah, no Hans. That’s enough.” His voice is muffled, distant, and Alex has to thank the water for keeping it from grating in her ears. “We don’t want to actually kill her yet.”

She’s pulled back up, only to find Max so close she can touch him if she wanted. She shies away, not wanting to be near this man at all.

“Oh come on, Alex. I’m hurt. When was the last time you even had willing human contact?”

“Definitely wasn’t human.”

Her grin is sharp, her body shaking from the loss of heat. She has no way to tell how many times they’d dunked her before she woke up, no way to tell how many times she’d nearly died, but one more might send her into cardiac arrest.

Alex eyes the tank, keeps her breathing long and drawn out. She needs to be prepared, needs to hold out as long as she can. She doesn’t want Kara to rescue her, doesn’t want her to put herself in danger when so many people need her out there, but she doesn’t want to die either. She doesn’t want to lose her life before she can follow up on that kiss.

* * *

 

_Kara caresses her cheek, pulls away from her with a shy glance. She looks so small, so hopeful and so dismayed, as if Alex has already rejected her. It makes her heart clench, makes her ache with the need to comfort her, to hold her and protect her from everything despite Kara’s extraordinary abilities._

_She gives in to that urge, reaches out for her. At first, Kara refuses, but Alex does her best to keep her from running and soon, soon she has an armful of Kryptonian girl sobbing into her shoulder. She runs her hands through her hair, presses kisses to her face as she pulls her up and away from her body._

_“Hey, hey you. We need to talk about this, yes?”_

_Kara nods, whining pitifully, and Alex can feel that ache increase. She moves her hand to cup Kara’s cheek and presses a kiss to her forehead._

_“We need to talk but don’t shut down on me, okay? This isn’t a no, just a not yet. We have some things to work out, you and me, and we can’t do that if we get distracted, yeah?”_

_Kara nods, looking down. She doesn’t quite meet Alex’s eyes but Alex will take what she can get, stroking her skin and smiling softly at her. It’s as much as she can give her in that moment, as much as she has the strength to give._

* * *

 

Kara would never forgive her for dying here. She’d never let it go, never move on, and she can’t do that to her. She can’t hold her back like that, even in death when she doesn’t have a choice. She can’t stop her from living her life.

She feels her hair being pulled back, prepares her body for being dunked again, but nothing happens yet. Nothing moves once Hans pulls her back and she has to grit her teeth against the pain.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Not the pulling, that’s an obvious pain. The wait, though? It increases the pain, makes you so anxious for something to happen, anything really, and it increases the pain when it actually happens.”

“Wow. You took an Intro to Psych class. Colour me impressed, Max.”

There’s a crackling sound coming from his direction, a crack in the air that she can feel, the heat so close that it makes her skin hurt when the temperature extremes meet. She has to force herself not to flinch away, has to force herself to stay still even though every inch of her is screaming at her to move, to get away.

“Still resisting? Tch. It’ll go easier for you if you don’t. I promise, this hurts me more than it hurts you.” Max grins. “Well, maybe it’ll hurt you more, but we must all make sacrifices for the good of the world.”

“You’ve never truly had to make a sacrifice in your life.”

She manages to spit at him just as the cables, jaggedly cut with wires exposed and cracking, are jabbed into her side. She screams out, the pain too overwhelming as her body goes into shock, moving independently of her thoughts. She can’t help her reaction, can’t help the way she convulses under his watch until he pulls it away.

“What were you saying, Alex? Something about sacrifices? You have no idea what I gave up in life.”

“Your parents? Guess what, Max.” She coughs, blood dripping from her chin. “We’ve all lost something, but not all of us are working with C.A.D.M.U.S. to try to take away our heroes.”

“Heroes? More like menaces. Tell me, agent Danvers. How many lives have been lost since your sister decided to play hero? How much damage has been caused? We’re humans. We can deal with all of our problems on our own. We don’t need _superheroes_ to save us from the big bads in the world.”

“No, you just need scapegoats to blame when your idiotic plans go wrong, right?”

He aims a punch at her stomach, shaking his hand when he steps away. She watches with glee as he massages his knuckles. Max might play at being one of the big boys but at heart he’s still a minor player in something much bigger than they both are.

She grins when he looks at her again, bares her teeth. If this is how she’s going out, she thinks as she eyes the way he charges the cables again, then it’s worth it to antagonize him, to try to get into his head and leave a lasting impression that he won’t be able to rid himself of ever again.

“You think you’re the one in charge, Max, but the truth is, you’re just a small son of a bitch playing in a pool too big for you. When they get you, and believe me, my boss is going to get you, I hope they bury you so far in the ground that you won’t see the sun.”

“Too bad you won’t live to see it, right?” He nods to the man holding her head in place. “Dunk her again, and make it longer this time. Wouldn’t want to give her a chance to recover before we really begin the fun, right Hans?”


	3. Chapter 3

Kara looks around, a little lost. She hasn’t seen Alex in hours, hasn’t seen her since she left for work. She needs to find her, to make sure she’s alright, but she doesn’t know where to look, doesn’t know who to ask.

She hates not knowing, hates that she can’t find her, but she needs to think, needs to stop and use her head before she can do something that Alex will get mad about. She doesn’t want her mad, doesn’t want to fight with her when all she wants to do is talk about what happened, talk about all the things they haven’t talked about yet.

She thinks, makes her way to the precinct where she knows Detective Sawyer is processing the latest bank robber she’s brought in. The last she checked, Alex had mentioned wanting to talk to her, to clear the air between them now that things between her and Kara had changed. That she isn’t there is a sign that something is wrong, that something _has_ changed.

Alex does this sometime, disappears without notice or changes her plans without telling her, but even then, Kara can still hear her, can still tell where she is even if Alex wants to hide away from her and the world and everything in it. She can still find her if she wants, still go to her when Alex is ready.

She marches in, careful to remain Kara Danvers and not Supergirl, careful to keep the two separate as she approaches Maggie. She likes her, approves of the easy way in which she gets along with Alex, but she doesn’t need the world to know who she is, doesn’t need Maggie asking more questions than she feels comfortable answering at the moment.

“Kara? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

She has to push the need to reassure her aside, has to force herself to focus on the task at hand. She can’t afford to let herself get distracted when she can’t find Alex, can’t find the one she needs the most.

“I…did Alex come by? She said she was going to.”

Maggie lights up and Kara has to force the jealousy that rises up to dissipate. She has to remind herself that while Alex hasn’t said yes, she hasn’t said no either, hasn’t rejected her the way Kara is always afraid she will. She has to remind herself that Alex kissed her back, had looked at her with that soft expression she always saves for her and held her close.

“She did? She hasn’t come by yet, but I could tell her you were asking when she does?”

She has to breathe out slowly, has to resist the urge to close her eyes as she tries to calm herself. Maggie doesn’t know yet, can’t know yet. Alex hasn’t spoken to her, hasn’t told her about them, so it’s not like she knows what happened the night before, not like she knows what’s between the two of them now that things have changed so much.

Kara nods, turns away. She needs to get out of there, needs to clear her head before this new need makes her do something stupid, something she knows she’ll regret. Or is it something new, something she’s never felt before? She knows this need, knows how much she’s wanted Alex for a long time but this is something she hasn’t let herself think about in years, something she’d never dared to hope for.

Outside of the precinct, Kara’s comm goes off. She doesn’t want to answer, wants to go home and curl up on her couch with a pint of ice cream, but she taps it anyway.

“Supergirl, we need you to come in.” J’onn’s voice is like an echo in her mind, loud, unwanted in that moment. “There’s something you need to know and we can’t talk about it over the comm lines.”

“Okay. I’m on my way.”

* * *

 

At the D.E.O., she shakes a little as she lands. Alex isn’t here and it disorients her more than usual, confuses her because wouldn’t she be here if something was wrong? Wouldn’t she be here to help guide her now that she needs it?

J’onn meets her at the command centre, directs her to the screens on the wall where a map is active. There’s a red, pulsating dot over the Lord Tech building but Kara ignores it, turns to look at him, confused. She doesn’t understand what she’s doing here, why he’s making her look at it, but she’s too tired to ask, too impatient to leave to really want to know.

He sighs, points to the dot.

“Lord is back in town and he has one of our own.”

“So…what? You want me to rescue them?”

He shakes his head, motions for Winn to hand her the tablet he’s holding nervously as he moves from behind her. She looks from the device to Winn and J’onn, confused as to why she’s here, why they’re giving her this when this is something they don’t need her for.

J’onn sighs. “Look at it Kara. You’ll understand when you do.”

She looks down, stiffens. Alex is on the screen, face bloody and bruised, body soaked. She’s smirking, but it’s clear that she’s tired, worn down from whatever has been done to her as she stares at the camera.

“Kara, whatever you do, don’t come here. You’re more important than me and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m begging you not to come.”

There’s a fist that collides with Alex’s face and then she’s being pulled away as Lord comes into view, his clothes also wet and bloody, though his body looks fine. Kara wants to throw up when she sees this, wants to break the tablet, but she controls herself, forces her muscles to stay still as she continues to watch the video.

“Well, wasn’t that disturbingly off script?” He turns to look in the direction Alex has been taken, frowns for a second before turning back to the camera with his usual grin. “Agent Danvers really isn’t the most disciplined soldier, is she? Kind of makes me wonder how she made it through basic training when she can’t even listen to simple instructions and read what’s right in front of her.”

He claps his hands, spins around for a second. It reminds Kara of Bruce’s videos of the Joker, makes her wonder if something has happened to Lord. He isn’t acting like his usual self, she doesn’t think.

“Anyway, let’s talk demands. That’s what you people always want to know, after all, isn’t it? Demands, demands, demands.” He grins. “Simple. I want Supergirl. Give her to me and your precious Alex gets released. It’s a steal, really. After all, I’m pretty sure Danvers is the brains of the operation while the resident _hero_ is actually just the muscle. Can’t really be all that smart if she lets her get kidnapped in the first place, right?”

At that, the tablet cracks in half and Kara drops it, watches as it shatters on the ground in front of her. She can’t believe it, can’t do anything but stare as she tries to process what she’s seen.

“Kara?”

She looks at Winn, stares at nothing for a moment before shaking her head. She knows what she has to do, knows that Alex will never forgive her if it doesn’t work, but she doesn’t care what happens to her as long as she can save Alex. She doesn’t care what happens to her, doesn’t care about anything but getting her out of there, saving her before anything can happen.

“Kara, you can’t. You don’t know what he has planned for you.”

She turns away, starts moving to her skylight.

“I have to.”

* * *

 

She flies around the city, listens carefully now. She can barely hear it but the closer she gets to Lord Technologies, the more she can hear Alex. Kara has to wonder why she hasn’t heard it before, why she didn’t notice it until now when it’s so apparent, so clear that Alex is inside of that building.

There is no lead, no substance to block her out. She can see everything, see the way the building descends into the ground like some giant invading thing violating the earth, tearing it apart in that one spot. She can see the way it hides the things Lord doesn’t want found, doesn’t want anyone else to know about, and Kara has to wonder if he planned this, if this is just to taunt her before he tries to finish her off.

She veers off to the side of the building, surveys it from above as she looks for a weak point in the structure. Kara might not like Max Lord, but she doesn’t want to hurt his employees, doesn’t want to make it so that they’re injured in the fallout of her rescue mission.

Spotting what she’s looking for, Kara beings to look for the best spot in the structure to enter without hitting any of them, before blasting through the doors and punching her way through the floor at a point just off the center of the lobby’s floor. She speeds through the mass, hitting each spot with a precision she hasn’t often had cause to use before now.

She moves so fast that she creates a clean hole with each floor, moves so fast that there isn’t time for a crack in the structure to form. It’s something, she thinks as she moves, though what it is, Kara doesn’t know or care. All she can think is that she needs to get to Alex, needs to find her before something happens, before something bad occurs before she can stop it.

She listens as she moves, can hear the way Alex’s breathing becomes shallower and shallower with each moment that stops her from getting to her. Kara grits her teeth, pushes herself until she’s bursting through the ceiling of Lord’s torture chamber – and it hurts that that is the only way she can describe where they’ve kept Alex – pushes herself until she’s landing in a puddle of water ankle deep, looking around to see if she can find Alex in that space.

There’s a dark chuckle and then a familiar voice from the shadows. She almost rolls her eyes, but Kara is desperate to find Alex, desperate to take her out of this place and get her to safety, to somewhere she can receive medical attention and soon.

“Looking for this, Miss Danvers?”

Kara rounds on Lillian Luthor, words slipping away from her as she watches her drag Alex out and push her into the water with her.  She moves forward, drops to her knees to get to her. Her fingers shakes as they press against her wrist, feels the faint beat of a pulse she can barely hear.

“She’s alive, just barely. It took us quite a while to get her to this point. Max tried his best but unfortunately, he just wasn’t good enough.”

“What did you do to him?”

It’s not that she cares, not that she doesn’t want him punished, but Kara has seen what Lillian is capable of, knows how little she actually cares for those who no longer have a purpose in her organization. She knows enough to not underestimate this woman, knows enough not to let her out of her sight as she tries to pick Alex up.

“I gave him his just desserts. It’s one thing to experiment with willing participants. Henshaw was quite cooperative, after all. It’s another to kidnap comatose women and prey on them.”

Kara snorts. “So that’s your limit? You can kidnap Alex’s dad and people who disagree with you, not to mention what you’re doing to alien refugees, but that’s your limit?”

Lillian smiles as if she knows something that Kara doesn’t. She feels herself going pale at it.

“Everyone has their breaking point, dear. I’m afraid that you, however, have reached yours. Now be good and drop like an obedient little alien.”

She touches a cable to the ground and everything goes black.


End file.
